Share your top tips for reading with toddlers and win £300 worth of books NOW CLOSED

[EmilyMumsnet]

Every parent loves to snuggle up with the kids and a good book - but a strong case of the fidgets can often bring a reading session to a (literal) screeching halt.

This week we're asking you for your top tips for reading with babies and toddlers. What do they enjoy? What do you enjoy about the experience?

Baby Campbell's brand new series of finger trail books are the perfect interactive reads for curious children, designed for ages six months and up, each page has finger trails cut in, which follow the story across the page and there are lots of flaps to lift.

Share your tips and you'll be in the running to win a year's supply of adult books and a year's supply of children's books, courtesy of Baby Campbell. You can choose 48 books from a selection of titles on the Pan Macmillan website, up to the value of £300.

This competition is now closed. The winner will be contacted shortly

Best tip I can give...enjoy reading for your own pleasure, and let your kids see it. Our children want to be just like us, so set a good example.

Good clear pictures, something you can look at, read the words and the child can interact and relate the pictures and words together.

Sturdy books that can survive grabbing are a must! That and starting early and finding books which engage your child's attention. I found early on repetitive ones were best, now DD is a little older she can follow a story so likes to hear favourites again and again

It's all about frequency in my opinion. Make reading part of every day. Make a little nest and settle down. Don't fret that your small has skipped past 6 pages, make up the story. Have fun. Go with the flow. Put your phone down and be enthusiastic.

Look at the pictures together and explore the story or illustration as an activity in itself independent of the written text!

My small also loves to get into bed when I am reading to his big brother too and I believe that gives them a different experience again, to hear a story with much more text and he seems mesmerised by the rhythm and tone of the words being spoken.

We adore reading in this house and I believe it really helps little minds grow xx

I've always found that encouraging him to choose the books as the best option, but that sometimes means reading the same book for weeks on end, which drives me crazy, but he’s happy and that’s all that matters.

I've always found that encouraging him to choose the books as the best option, but that sometimes means reading the same book for weeks on end, which drives me crazy, but he’s happy and that’s all that matters.

I'd say if they are fidgeting, let them move on. Follow their cues. We read all the time, but if they are not enjoying it right then, let them do something else. There will be plenty more opportunities.

Top tip is to have them in easy reach of children and on display so that they can see them and can get them to give to you when they want :)

Choose books that your toddler is interested in animals, wheels. lots of textures are good for small children, make animals noises with your child, have fun and laugh. Keep story sessions short. Have books in different areas of the house with toys, in bedroom and bath time. Take your toddler to the library for story sessions, really good for getting children into books.

Make it fun do silly voices ask the! To find things on the pages make it enjoyable for everyone! If your having fun chances are so will they

Making it fun, intresting & if poss the same time each day, so they get used to the idea, we love reading to him, quiet time in his bedroom without the distractions of tv, food etc!

I let my daughter choose her own books, she loves books with noises and things she can interact with, I let her sit on my lap for cuddle time and reading.

I try to red later in the afternoon either before or after bedtime nap when Ava is getting to sleepy stage but not too tired. Not sure whether this is a good thing, but its the only time she will sit still for long enough. We sit together and i point to words and she turns the pages for me. We point out things in the book and each character tries to have a fun exciting or silly voice.

We always put characters into the voices, and make little slogans up from phrases, when DC was small, we'd go for lively stories and lovely coloured books that catch the eye. DH used to read The Importance of Being Earnest, and used to delight in the 2 year old DC, as he was at the time, saying " A Handbag?" in a funny voice!

The more you read the more they'll pick up, focus on the book, point at the words and they'll understand the connection between the symbols in the book and what you are saying.

I always let my child choose the book, although I might give him the "choice" of 5 books I think would be good. Then we read it together - he likes to turn the page and finish my sentences if it is a book he knows well. Then we talk about the pictures. He is also just starting to pick out the letters he has been learning.

let them choose which book.Always read with them before bed.

Here we let them choose.
I don't mind that I end up reading the same story over and over. I like that the repetitiveness encourages my child to feel confident to join in ... Somethimes speaking the lines before I do .... Love books I do :)

My daughter, aged 2 1/2, is like a whirlwind so we have quiet time during the day where we read together and we always have stories before bedtime. I get her to join in the story by repeating bits that she says back to me - so we have stories like Click, Clack Moo which is quite repetitive, Spot - she plays hide and seek so also uses this to count and another favourite is Fireman Sam where she pretends to speak to him on the phone by telling him the accident in the book. I also point out words to her as well so anything along the lines of Mummy, Daddy etc. She loves her books and although she cannot read she knows the name of all her favourite books and can go through a pile of them stating their name as she knows them by sight.

Choose books they can engage with ie one with a hand puppet going through it. Or flap books, or books with buttons to press to make it fun as possible

Let them choose the books as well as you introducing new ones and it doesn't have to be a bedtime activity. Read whilst dinner is cooking, after school, whilst your DC is in the bath...audio books in the car....

I found books that offered a sensory experience were best for keeping her engaged before she was 2, particularly books with touchy feely patches but also (shudder) noisy books. As she's got older she's most easily engaged by books with rhymes like Julia Donaldson's. She likes to pre-empt the rhyme and mimic my tone of voice when she reads them to her toys. Voices are vital to the engagement too!

An adult in the house (often me or DH, but sometimes a willing visitor) has read to my children every day of their lives - unless they aren't here which happens more now as they are now nine and twelve! I am banned from letting my 12-year-old's friends know he still has bedtime stories, but he loves them. Sometimes, if he has had a really gruelling time, he even wants a pile of picture books from the past as a sort of "comfort blanket" calming bedtime routine.

We have always read a mixture of old favourites and new titles. Now they are older, we alternate between something a bit more classic / worthy (i.e. my daughter is currently having Black Beauty) and something they choose.

The key to their love of books, I think, is it is something that from when they were babies and toddlers it was seen as something that was fun, worthwhile, soothing and pleasant. They have also always seen the adults in the house with their noses in a book - something I think is important from when they are very young too as we know how much children want to imitate adults.

The attached picture was taken on my eldest's first birthday. You can see he clearly already knows what books are for.

Start reading to them from a young age to gain their interest in reading and set a routine for reading to them everyday. Also variety of different books, fiction and non fiction is important ir they might get bored.

Thanks for all these great tips, this competition has now closed. We'll be announcing the winners shortly.